Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Chilli Parotta

I've seen Chilli Parotta and Kothu Parotta being used interchangeably to describe the same dish and eventhough I'm no parotta expert, being quite a fan of this... i've observed quite a few differences between the two. I first had Chilli Parotta when my cousin raved so much about this dish from a hotel called 'Guru Prasad' in Madurai and since that was a vegetarian restaurant, my mom okayed it and soon he brought home a couple parcels of it for us to taste. I remember not liking it as much as kothu parotta and found it a bit too saucy but it was quite good.

Nowadays however Chilli Parotta is a common feature in most restaurants in India (atleast TamilNadu) and there is no trouble finding vegetarian versions of both chilli & kothu parottas. My dad's friend owns a small restaurant so I was allowed to watch the chef make this since my dad mentioned how much i like this to the owner... They first deep fried the parotta pieces (now that was a shock because parottas are fattening as is and are made with Lots of oil & maida and then to deep fry them as well was atrocious i thought)... and then he told me how they typically make the gravy and keep & toss it all together when an order comes through. So, the recipe here is my attempt at replicating it at home, but with a few modifications of which first & foremost was to skip the deep frying part... :) Still, this is definitely not a diet friendly or health conscious recipe but definitely falls in the 'once in a while indulgence, in moderation' category.

Method:1) Peel & halve the red onion. Chop one half and set aside. Cut the remaining half into 1 inch cubes (similar to the capsicum).2) I used frozen paratha so i popped them in the microwave for 30 seconds before frying them on a tawa till they get crisp (instead of deep-frying). Cut the parotta pieces into 1.5 to 2 inch squares - i used a pair of kitchen scissors.

2) Meanwhile, heat 1 to 2 tsp of oil and saute the chopped onion, garlic and ginger cloves till brown, then add the chopped tomato with the masala powders and salt. Also add the poppy seeds & cashews at this point and let it cook till it gets thick. Allow this mixture to cool a bit and grind in a mixie to a paste.

3) Heat the remaining oil in the pan, and add the cubed onions & the white of the spring onions and saute for a few minutes till translucent before adding the cubed capsicum and a pinch of salt. When they get tender crisp, add the ground onion-tomato paste and saute for about 4 to 5 minutes atleast.

4) Add a tbsp or two of water (to loosen up the mixture so the parottas can soak it up) and immediately add the parotta pieces and toss so they are uniformly covered by the paste. Cook this on a medium-high flame till dry.

5) Switch off the stove and stir in the green tops of the spring onions - reserve about a tbsp for garnish later. Delicious Chilli Parotta is now ready.

i have never had chilli parotta or kottu parotta....but i can imagine the shock on the deep frying..it is best never to view what happens in the restaurnat kitchen....i should be trying this 'healthier' version out...it looks great. Btw. the terattipal was absolutely delicious!!..thanks.

I first had them at Vasantha Bhavan and has been my favorite ever since. Looks tempting. I have avoided making it for the deep frying part. I also tried baking them but did`nt give the desired result. Will have to try your version.

Oh..Thanks for this Lavs..this was my fav n all time food during Btech days..:)..N I thought it was saucy ,had tatsed of Red chilli sauce..But I see u havent added any n still looks so yum..Am going to try this sometime,will let u knw..:)

I love the egg kothu parota! I've seen them being fried on the tawa with a lot of oil but I'm not surprised that it's deep-fried too. Where I live, I don't recall seeing 'Chilli Parota' the name as such but in some restaurants Kothu Parota looks like this.

i studied my masters at madurai and my first ever chilli parotta was at Guru Prasad Madurai. I love love love their chilli parotta. I also loved the one that they used to serve at Anna Meenakshi at college house. I miss those days!!! Bookmarked to try. I knew that there was a gravy it was being cooked in...Never cd try it as my waistline wd never allow it!!! :)Shobha

I am from Madurai so will keep the Anna Meenakshi chilli parotta in mind for my next trip there. As much as I love this, I don't make it for the exact same reason - it is fattening.. but once in a while in moderation is okay (easier said than done) :D

I made this for a party of 80, prepared the gravy a day before, cooked the parottas and cut them that day and I mixed both in the serving foil trays with burner beneath them.By the time everyone started dinner both the gravy and parotta mixed well and got gr8 compliments from my guests.